Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Newcomers to Jerusalem

This is 12th century Syrian
raconteur Usama Ibn Munquid talking about newly arrived pilgrims from Europe
and their problematic attitudes to matters of faith in the Middle East.

Everyone who is a fresh emigrant
from the Frankish lands is ruder in character than those who have become
acclimatised and have had long associations with Muslims. Here is an
illustration of their rude character.

Whenever I visited Jerusalem I
always entered the Aqsa mosque, which was occupied by the Templars
(al-dawiyyah), who were my friends, would evacuate the little adjoining mosque
so that I might pray in it. One day I
entered this mosque, repeated the first formula, ‘Allah is great,’ and stood up
in the act of praying, upon which one of the Franks rushed on me, caught hold
of me and turned my face eastwards saying, ‘This is the way thou shouldst pray!’
A group of Templars hastened to him, seized him and repelled him from me. I resumed my prayer. This same man, while the others were
otherwise busy, rushed once more on me and turned my faced eastwards saying, ‘This
is the way thou shouldst pray!’ The Templars again came in and expelled him. They apologised to me saying, ‘This is a
stranger who has only recently arrived from the land of the Franks and he has
never before seen anyone praying except eastwards.’ Thereupon I said to myself ‘I
have heard enough of prayer.’ So I went out and have ever been surprised at the
conduct of this devil of a man and, at the change in the colour of his face,
his trembling and his sentiment at the sight of one praying towards the qiblah.
(the direction of the Ka’bah in the holy city, Mecca).

I saw one of the Franks come to
Al-Amnir Mu in-al-Din (may Allah’s mercy rest upon his soul!) When he was in
the Dome of the rock and say to him, ‘Dost thou want to see God as a child?’ Mu
in-al-Din said, ‘Yes.’ The Frank walked ahead of us until he showed us the
picture of Mary with Christ (may peace be upon him!) as an infant in her lap. He then said, ‘This is God as a child.’ But
Allah is exalted far above what the infidels say about him!

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THE WINTER CROWN

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" Wow! I feel like someone used to watching movies in black and white but has just seen the first one in technicolor! " A personal letter from a reader.

"The Winter Crown ...will, I have no doubt, become the definitive fictional account of this remarkable woman.' ..." I’ve read a fair few fictional depictions of Henry II over the years and I must say that his portrait in The Winter Crown has the most authentic feel of them all."Kate Atherton, author of For Winters Night blog.

"Eeanor’s life story has been told many times over in historical novels but rarely with such insight, emotional intensity and page-turning readability." Pam Norfolk, Lancashire Evening Post.

"In the world of the arts, the Black Legend and the Golden Myth still hold sway, as seen in novels, such as Alison Weir's, which seek to portray both the scandalous, adulterous queen of legend and the powerful female ruler. Historians may shake their heads at the perpetuation of such myths, but many historical novelists such as Sharon Kay Penman and Elizabeth Chadwick are seeking to apply modern scholarship to their fiction, and consequently avoid the most egregious of the legends that surround Eleanor."

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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE SUMMER QUEEN

"What I loved about this novel, and I have felt this way about all of Elizabeth’s novels that I have read, is that she does not pander to stereotypes or write scandal for the sake of it. The historical Eleanor is defamed beyond belief- a whore chasing anything in trousers, a woman who committed incest with her uncle, a woman who was ‘ahead of her time’, and so on. Elizabeth’s Alienor is none of these things. She is treated fairly, as a woman of her own time, written in a believable way. Elizabeth does not go for scandal because she does not need to- the writing in this novel makes that very clear. Her scene setting is lovely, her character development top notch, and the book is a compulsive page turner. I couldn’t put it down." Sarah Bell

."The Summer Queen is a fabulous novel based on the most up-to-date and meticulous research. This is historical fiction at its best and I loved every page of it." Kate Atherton, blogger.

"I have read just about everything I can about Eleanor and enjoyed both biographical and fictional accounts of her life but I must say that your creation of Eleanor is the most compelling." Reader from Australia

"I loved the story; I loved the way the author wrote Alienor as a woman of her times instead of a thoroughly modern independent woman, or a slut in chase of anything in pants. As with all Chadwick novels, there's also the added plus of being sucked into another century with the sights, smells and sounds that wrap up a darn-near perfect reading experience. I couldn't put it down, and very sorry I'm going to have to wait for the next installment. Reader from the USA"

I often see the expressions, `fleshing out the history' and `making it real', and they more than apply here...the main aspect that made me keep turning the pages and burning the midnight oil? The things that I didn't know about Alienor.." Reader from Australia

"Chadwick has succeeded where many other novelists have failed by giving us not just the legend but the very human young woman – intelligent, determined, witty and sexy." Pam Norfolk. Lancashire Evening Post.